SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Frank Shamrock promised to stand and trade with Cung Le.
After living up to his word Saturday evening, the self-professed No. 1 fighter in mixed martial arts will need surgery to repair his broken and displaced right wrist.
Attempting his first defense of the Strikeforce middleweight belt, Shamrock, a master game planner, engaged in an exciting -- and confounding -- toe-to-toe affair with the undefeated kickboxer, who has appeared in just six MMA contests to the venerable champion's 34.
Testing the allegiance of 16,326 frenzied onlookers inside the HP Pavilion, the former sparring partners exchanged strikes and taunts during their 15 minutes together in the cage.
Le, supported by his always vocal contingent of Vietnamese fans waiving the Heritage and Freedom Flag of the country he fled as a young child, and Shamrock, bolstered by a red shirt- and sign-waving army, drew several thunderous reactions.
Convinced he was at least on par with Le in the striking department, Shamrock waged a questionable campaign that saw him focus on striking the striker.
With Shamrock seemingly unwilling to attempt takedowns, his 34-year-old former sparring partner kept up the pressure from the outside. Continuous movement to the right was key for Le in maintaining his distance.
"Frank wanted to go on the inside and fight with me," said Le, now 6-0 in MMA. "But I know he was frustrated with the straight kicks."
Using his arms to buffer the blows, Shamrock (24-9-1) shook off the burn of Le's powerful attacks at different points in the fight. With time winding down in the third period, however, a left high kick snapped Shamrock's arm and made Le the Strikeforce champion.
"I can feel the bones clicking," Shamrock said in the cage. "I just kept trying to fight through it, but anybody who says Cung Le doesn't know submissions -- he put one on my arm tonight -- he's the better man. He's the champion man. He took me out. He's a good man."
A tight opening round gave way to a solid second period for the challenger. Having seen Shamrock promise to put him to sleep, Le connected with a straight left to the body followed by a right hook to the head that stunned the former UFC champion. But it was Le's kicks, some of the most dangerous in the sport, which were the difference in the fight.
"I just said I'm going to keep kicking at his head," said Le, his mouth noticeably swollen from Shamrock's punches. "Usually I teach my students to block with both hands. He kept blocking with one hand like he was rolling with a punch. I just stayed on it. I knew he was dipping and I kept my rhythm in the second round."
Early in the third, yet another kick caused Shamrock to shake off the sting like he'd fouled a heavy fastball off his hands. Le, now in control, unloaded much of his arsenal save spinning back kicks. He'd been warned off those by his corner at the end of the first.
Javier Mendez, who oversaw much of Shamrock's career, demanded Le dispense with the fancy stuff -- it gave "The Legend" an opportunity to swarm if his charge made a mistake.
"A lot of people aren't giving Frank the credit he deserves," Mendez said. "He's a great fighter."
Shamrock showed his championship grit midway through the decisive round.
Countering a kick that was stopped by both arms this time, Shamrock connected with his best punch of the fight, a right hand to the face that sent a jolt down Le's tree-trunk legs. Shamrock, who's 35, rushed forward with a volley of strikes and battered Le along the cage fencing.
The crowd's roar intensified when Le responded with strikes of his own.
"I told Cung if Frank does something to you, you do it right back to him," Mendez said after the fight. "You don't want Frank on a roll. Cung listened."
Then came the kick that fractured Shamrock's distal ulna and forced him to the hospital.
"I caught him in the head first, and then I was going to kick him again," said Le, whose attacks opened a cut along Shamrock's jaw near his left ear. "He pulled up his arm and I caught him with a kick. I heard his arm break. He kind of staggered back, and I just chased him down with punches."
Le's round-ending salvo damaged Shamrock to the point that he could not make it back to his corner. Helped onto his stool, a grimacing Shamrock repositioned himself on the canvas, where a commission doctor examined the injury.
At the time of the stoppage, judges at ringside had Le in control. Richard Bertrand scored it a commanding 30-27, while Cecil Peoples and Nelson "Doc" Hamilton each had it 29-28 for the new champ. (Peoples gave Shamrock the third round, and Hamilton the first.)
"It was not easy," Le said. "Frank, every time he dipped, I thought he was going to shoot in. So I couldn't move my head. He caught me with some hard punches, rocked me a few times. You know what? It's all about that champion in my heart. I came back, I fought hard. And I pushed back. I was rocked. I saw some stars."
Though he hadn't asked for it, Le was hailed as King of San Jose.
"He said he owned San Jose. For me, I did say I'll be the gatekeeper; let Frank come through me," said the new champion. "This time he didn't make it through. If there is a next time, it'll be another great fight."
Fickett ready for Shields
Drew Fickett secured his June 14 EliteXC welterweight title opportunity versus Jake Shields with an early submission over South Korean Jae Suk Lim (9-4).
Booked when their original opponents, Shields and Nick Diaz, fell off Saturday's card because of injury and issues with the state athletic commission, respectively, Fickett secured an arm-in guillotine choke as Lim attempted to scoop up the 28-year-old Arizonan and dump him to the canvas.
Adjusting the choke and squeezing as Lim, 28, gingerly fell to his knees, Fickett, now 32-5, cemented his place against Shields in Honolulu.
"I came out here to fight and I stepped up," Fickett said. "I wanted to fight Jake, but I will get my chance to do that."
Melendez dominates Lemley
Gilbert Melendez retained his Strikeforce lightweight title with a dominant second-round stoppage of Gabe Lemley.
Fighting out of San Francisco, Melendez enjoyed the support of a partisan crowd, which cheered while the ranked 155-pounder connected with right-hand leads and unrelenting ground-and-pound.
"I thought I had him at the end of the first round, but he was saved by the bell,'' Melendez said. "Another five seconds and it would have been over."
Bloodied and battered, Lemley, a 29-year-old from New London, Iowa, took consecutive right hands to start his campaign in the second. Had Melendez (14-1) wanted, he could have kept it on the feet against his undersized late-replacement opponent.
An injury to Josh Thomson had prevented one matchup for Melendez. Another contest against Jorge Masvidal was close to being booked, but again injury ended hope of that potentially exciting bout. In stepped Lemley (11-7), who hung tough before Melendez, 25, upped the pressure and ended it at 2:18 of Round 2.
Wayne Cole, 37, surprised the San Jose crowd, including Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, who watched from cage-side, with a fast arm bar submission over Mike Kyle.
The heavyweights moved to the canvas in the opening seconds. Working from the top, Cole (11-6) attacked the 27-year-old Kyle's left arm. Swinging his legs over to lock in an arm bar, Cole forced Kyle (9-7-1) to tap at the 42-second mark.
Josh Gross is the editor of Sherdog.com.